


Poison

by brightlikeloulou



Series: Desus Requests [4]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Deep Conversations, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Maggie Knows All, Overdosing, Poison, Poisoning, Post-War, Pre-Relationship, Some Humor, Undressing, Worried Paul Rovia, drugged, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-01 04:09:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13286691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlikeloulou/pseuds/brightlikeloulou
Summary: “This is Daryl’s bottle.” She tells him as she rubs her thumb over where D.D had been scratched into the surface.Paul grins slightly. “He must have yours then, that mark is the only difference between them. Easy to get it mixed up.” He replies as he stretches his arms above his head.That was the end of their conversation and they spent the next five minutes in silence. Maggie watches the horses longingly, Dr. Carson had said it would be another week before she could comfortably ride. Paul watches Daryl, muscular arms flexing as he hammers nails into the roof.It’s a moment later that Paul realises something is wrong, Daryl was swaying and shaking his head, then he’s falling from the ladder.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Idea from a prompt I received on my Tumblr. 
> 
> I would like to apologise for how medically inaccurate this probably is, I did a lot of research but that can only do so much. 
> 
> Please enjoy and look out for the second part!

It’s hot, hot enough that even Daryl had to stop and take a break from his work. He has been spending the past three days working with Eduardo and Kal on the construction of a new stable for the community. The Hilltop had just been gifted three horses from The Kingdom. Both Paul and Maggie immediately fell in love with the two bay geldings and the palomino mare, even Daryl had been developing a soft spot for them and the way the palomino would sniff at his pockets and rub her head against him was not helping his case. Maggie and Paul had made the plans for the stable and had requested the help from the three men, asking it to be finished as soon as possible due to the horses currently being kept in the same paddock as the cattle and there simply wasn’t enough grass for all seven animals to be kept in the same space. 

The hunter had taken shelter under one of The Hilltop’s larger trees, it sits in the corner of The Hilltop’s wall and gives him a full view of the community apart from behind the Barrington house. He can see Eduardo and Kal heading to their respective trailers for a toilet break, he can see Earl hitting away at something in the blacksmith’s shed, Enid and Carl giggling as they work in the gardens and far off he sees Jesus and Maggie, the pair are perched on the picnic table by the trailers talking about something, tiny Hershel Jr in his carrier beside them. 

He watches as Enid gives Carl a peck on the cheek and then leans down to pick something up, a bottle, she then steps around the gardens and begins to make her way across the grass towards the hunter. 

She stops in front of where he’s leaning against the trunk of the tree and he gives her something of a lazy smirk and gladly reaches out to accept his own large steel bottle that she’s holding out towards him. It’s one of Gregory’s new jobs since the war, the saviours went back to The Sanctuary now under Dwight’s lead and Gregory got to stay at The Hilltop in the end. But, the man is no longer leader of the colony, he doesn’t even get an opinion on matters of the community. He gets to make the rounds around where people are working, dropping off food to them and refilling their water bottles. 

Enid grins in return and takes a drink from her own bottle, which Daryl realises is full of an orange liquid. “This water?” He asks as he unscrews the cap from his own bottle. 

Enid shrugs. “I dunno, he said he filled some with orange juice.” She tells him. 

Daryl nods and takes a sip, it’s orange juice. “Coward couldn’t bring it to me himself?” He chuckles lightly and takes another mouthful of the cold drink, heavenly against his dry throat. The taste of the drink is strong due to it being nothing but pure orange juice, no added sugars or shit like that like it used to be world went to hell, it didn’t even taste like it had been watered down much. 

Enid laughs, a wide smiling spreading across her features. “Said he needed the bathroom.” She wiggles her eyebrows at him cheekily. 

He snorts and glances back across the community, Carl is still by the gardens, he’s looking over at them somewhat impatiently. “Ya boy’s waitin’ for ya.” He tells her and nods his head in the kid’s direction. 

Enid follows his movement and smiles fondly. “Well, I better go then.” She says and gives him a wink before she spins on her heels and heads back to Carl. 

Daryl grins at her as she leaves and then shakes his head, he tucks the 2 litre bottle between his legs so he can pull his cigarette pack and lighter from his side pocket. He’s relieved to find them there, recently a certain ninja had been making a habit of stealing them. After lighting the cigarette and then taking a deep drag he untucks the bottle from his legs and continues drinking. 

Less than two minutes later the bottle is finished and clipped back onto his belt and he begins to make his way back to the stable when he sees Eduardo exiting his trailer. 

Fifteen minutes later when he’s up on the ladder against the stable leaning over the roof does he begin to notice his dry throat. He doesn’t think anything of it, it’s a scorching hot day, hottest one they’ve had this summer. All he needs is another drink, preferably water this time. 

He swallows and just gets on with hammering nails into the wood of the roof. 

Another five minutes later he’s taken by surprise his vision suddenly blurs. He shakes his head, bangs fluttering against his eyelids as he squeezes them tightly closed. He opens them again but the hammer in his right hand is still nothing but a fuzzy shape of red and silver. 

“You okay, man?” Eduardo asks from where he’s squatting on the roof in front of him. 

Daryl begins to say something but the words die on his tongue as loud and sudden ringing erupts in his ears. He feels himself begins to sway and he squeezes his eyes closed again before opening them and once again shaking his head. He sees a blur of Eduardo desperately reaching for him before everything goes black and he falls backwards from the ladder, landing on the hard ground with a thump.

 

* * *

 

The conversation had been a long time coming, he had spent months hinting at it and being unsure if he actually wanted Maggie to ask him about it or not. Today, she did. They had just taken a seat on the top of the old picnic table and begun to indulge in their lunch. 

“Are you in love with him?” She asked as she observed him watch Daryl climb up the steps of the ladder. 

Paul briefly chocked on a mouthful of sandwich in his surprise. He got it down with a sip of water as Maggie slapped his back before he finally looked over at her, green eyes looking into his own expectantly. He sighs and then whispers out a quiet “Yeah.”. 

She tucks a stand of hair behind her ear and leans over to look down at her sleeping son. “How long?” She asked softly. 

Paul sighed again and took a moment to have another mouthful of his sandwich. “Since the day I brought him back from the sanctuary but I liked him since the day I met him.” Paul replies quietly, staring ahead and refusing to meet the younger woman’s eyes. He tells himself to calm down, It’s not like this is his coming out, he did that six months ago. 

She nods and takes another bite of her own sandwich. They sit in silence for a few moments before she speaks again. “You know he feels the same right?” She tells him, briefly glancing over at him. 

Paul licks the crumbs off his lips and nods. “I don’t know if he’s at the point of being in love but I know he has feelings for me.” He replies and Maggie hums from beside him. 

“Why don’t you do something about it?” She asks curiously. “He never will.” She chuckles softly at that, so does Paul. 

“Yeah, I know. I’ve just been enjoying getting to know him first, ya know?” Paul begins, fiddling with his fingers now that his sandwich was gone. “I’ve never been in a serious relationship, never been in love, only one night stands and flings. It’s been nice to just take things slow, I know it seems like he’s the one who needed it to be taken slow and he definitely did but I think I needed it to be as well.” He explains as he keeps his eyes on the gorgeous hunter. 

Maggie hums in understanding. “That’s fair enough, but I think he’s ready now and I think you could be too.” She says and reaches over, placing a hand on his thigh and squeezing encouragingly. 

Paul looks over at her for a moment. “Yeah, maybe.” He whispers. 

A few minutes later, Maggie is making a noise of realisation. “Well, then.” 

“What?” Paul asks and furrows his brows as he looks at her. 

“This is Daryl’s bottle.” She tells him as she rubs her thumb over where _D.D_ had been scratched into the surface. 

Paul grins slightly. “He must have yours then, that mark is the only difference between them. Easy to get it mixed up.” He replies as he stretches his arms above his head. 

That was the end of their conversation and they spent the next five minutes in silence. Maggie watches the horses longingly, Dr. Carson had said it would be another week before she could comfortably ride. Paul watches Daryl, muscular arms flexing as he hammers nails into the roof. 

It’s a moment later that Paul realises something is wrong, Daryl was swaying and shaking his head, then he’s falling from the ladder.

“Fuck!” Paul shouts when Daryl doesn’t move after landing, he begins to sprint over to the stable, Maggie hurrying behind him as fast as she can and shouting for Enid to go to Hershel and Carl to get Dr. Carson. 

 

* * *

 

Paul drops to his knees beside Daryl and places a hand on his bare and surprisingly sweat-less shoulder. “Daryl?” He says and shakes his shoulder slightly. Then he properly looks at Daryl, every inch of exposed skin he can see is beet red and his entire body is twitching in constant tremors. 

Dr. Carson drops down across from him a moment later, nudging Eduardo and Kal out of the way. “What’s happened?” He demanded and put a hand to Daryl’s forehead. 

Paul was panting, panicking. Daryl’s eyes were opening and closing lazily and he was unresponsive, the tremors in his body seeming to get more violent. 

Eduardo’s voice was shaky when he replied “I dunno… He was fine then he just kinda tensed up and started shaking his head, then he was swaying, like he was dizzy and then he fell.” 

Dr. Carson nodded and then pressed his fingers to Daryl’s pink neck, mouth parting and eyebrows furrowing in concern. “What?” Paul demanded. 

“His pulse, it’s rapid.” He replies, voice filled with confusion and he stands up. “Come on, we need to get him to the med trailer.” 

Paul and Eduardo pick Daryl up, slinging the hunter’s arms over the shoulders and dragging his feet along the ground, his head hanging low against his chest. Dr. Carson jogs in front of them and Maggie speed walks behind them, the other residents look on in a mix of curiosity and concern. 

Paul and Eduardo reach the med trailer quick enough, dragging Daryl up the steps and into the room. Alex and Dr. Carson are already in there, grabbing out various instruments and placing them on a tray. 

Eduardo and Paul place the man down on the bed as gently as they can and then Eduardo steps away, Paul however leans down and grabs Daryl’s feet from where they hang off of the bed and lays them flat against the mattress. He takes a deep shaky breath and looks up at Daryl’s face, his eyes look around lazily and he mumbles something incoherent before they droop closed again. 

“Jesus, get his shirt off.” Alex tells him from where he’s rummaging through a cupboard. 

Paul doesn’t hesitate and moves forward, not seeing the time to undo all the buttons he rips the shirt open and with Maggie’s help, manages to tug it off of the other man. He can’t help but gasp when he sees Daryl’s now exposed torso, dark ropes of scar tissue cover the flesh. 

Daryl had told him his father was abusive but he hand never seen the physical damage he had done to the hunter, only the emotional. He shakes his head, that’s not what it’s important right now. He turns to Dr. Carson. 

“How can I help?” He asks, voice cracking. His heart pounding in his chest and blood pumping in his ears. 

The doctor sighs and steps over to him, he places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes. “What’s best is for you to give us some space, okay?” He tells him. 

Paul’s eyes widen and he shoves the hand off of his shoulder, he glares at Dr. Carson and hisses out. “Fuck that, what can I do.” 

The older man is about to reply when Paul feels gentle hands on his hips turning him around and tugging him towards the door. “Come on, he’ll be okay.” Maggie whispers and he huffs shakily but allows his best friend to lead him out of the trailer and down the steps, Eduardo was already outside standing by the steps and waiting anxiously for them.“We just gotta let them do what they gotta do.” She tells him as she rubs his arm. 

Paul sighs shakily and allows himself to be pulled down onto one of the green benches ten metres from the med trailer, he rubs his hands over his face and tries to stop his eyes from stinging. “What the fuck, what the fuck, he was fine an hour earlier and now he’s…” Paul whimpers as Eduardo plops himself down on the grass a few metres away. 

Maggie shushes him and rubs his back. 

Enid and Carl appear seconds later, Enid carry baby Hershel in his carrier. The two of them don’t say anything, they just sit down one of the other benches and snuggle close to each other. 

Paul sits on the bench with his face buried in his shaking hands, desperately trying to stop himself from crying out of worry. He hears footsteps approaching but he can't bring himself to look up. He hears Kal’s familiar voice speak up “Rick and the others are here.” 

Paul remembers that they were coming for a visit today, certainly not expecting what has happened. 

Moments later several footsteps approaching can be heard before they come to a stop and take various seats on the benches and on the grass. He can vaguely hear Rick demanding to know what had happened and then Maggie explaining in a shaky voice. 

A few moments later, Dr. Carson emerges from the trailer. Paul’s head snaps up and looks at the doctor in anticipation. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Rick asks desperately, folding his arms over his chest and shifting nervously. 

Dr. Carson takes a deep breath and folds his own arms as well. “He’s awake but in a state of delirium and he’s very drowsy.” He begins to explain and the entire group looks on in anticipation. “His eyes are very dry and his pupils are largely dilated, he keeps mumbling about everything being blurry. His blood pressure is low and his heartbeat is still alarmingly rapid.” He’s about to continue when Eduardo interrupts. 

“Is he still having tremors?” The younger man asks. 

Dr. Carson nods and sighs loudly and meets Paul's eyes for a moment before he looks back to Rick. “My diagnosis is that he’s overdosed.” He tells them and there’s a collection of widened eyes and gasps across the group. 

“What?!” Michonne demanded and took a step forward. 

“On fucking what?” Rick exclaims, tugging at his hair. 

Dr. Carson shakes his head. “I don’t know.” He replies quietly. “I haven’t prescribed anything to him, he must have found it on a run or stolen it…” 

That makes Paul stand up and takes a few steps towards the doctor. “He’s not a fucking addict! I’ve been living with him for six months I think i’d know!” Paul yells, livid at the accusations towards Daryl. 

“Well how could this have happened then?” Dr. Carson asks, raising a brow. 

“Certainly not fuckin’ like that.” Rick hissed. 

Paul stood in silence for a few moments, trying to figure out how the hell Daryl had overdosed when it suddenly clicked. Gregory still despises Maggie and wishes he was still the community's leader, Gregory had refilled the drink bottle that afternoon. 

“Maggie was given Daryl’s water bottle by mistake and he had hers. Gregory still hates her, he was the one refilling the bottles.” Paul exclaimed, looking around the group.

Rosita let out a growl like noise and took off towards Barrington House with Kal, Eduardo and Tara following quickly behind her. 

Dr. Carson appeared to be about to say something but then the loud voice of Alex yelled from inside the trailer. “HE’S HAVING A SEIZURE!” 

Dr. Carson, Paul, Rick and Michonne and Maggie immediately charged into the trailer, Maggie ordering everyone else to stay outside. 

When they got inside Paul gasped in surprised, Daryl was having a full blown seizure. His entire body violently jerking on the bed, his eyes are closed and he’s foaming at the mouth while he attempts to form words but all that comes out is broken gurgling noises. 

Paul is infuriated when Dr. Carson and Alex just stand by. “Help him!” He screamed at them and stepped towards the hunter. 

It was Rick who gently grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back, he shook his head and Paul looked into the man’s tear wet eyes. “You can’t help him, he just needs to endure it. Holding him down could hurt him.” Rick explains sadly and Paul can tell he’s speaking from experience. 

Paul sobs lightly and runs his hand over his face, he feels Maggie wrap an arm around his waist and pull him into her side. 

A few moments later Daryl finally stills and Dr. Carson and Alex immediately make their way to him, so does Paul. He stands up beside Daryl’s head to stay out of their way as they checked his vitals, Paul runs his fingers through Daryl’s hair as he takes deep breaths. Daryl’s eyes are closed again and he’s gone quiet, still appearing to be falling in and out of consciousness. 

Suddenly yelling erupts from outside and looking out of the trailer Paul can see Kal and Eduardo dragging Gregory to the still standing cage. Paul growls and moves away from the hunter, storming out of the door with Rick, Michonne and Maggie following behind him. 

Gregory had sobbed as he laid flat on his back in the dirt, Paul above him hand gripping his throat as Gregory’s nose pissed blood. Paul’s theory was right, Gregory had meant to drug Maggie. He had claimed that while the community would be grieving the woman’s tragic death, he would step up and hold the community together and then take back his place as leader. 

Eventually Maggie told Eduardo to pull Paul off of Gregory and with some difficulty he did, standing behind Paul with one arm over his shoulder and on his chest, holding him back as Paul continued to try launch himself at the bleeding man. Rick who had managed to remain calm with Michonne’s help, grabbed Gregory by the back of his shirt and dragged him to the cage and then locked him inside. 

Paul returned back to the trailer after that while everyone else was still interrogating the community’s former leader. Nobody was in the trailer when he got there but looking out the window he saw the doctor and nurse talking to one of the women of the community, about what he’s not sure. 

Paul takes a sits down in the hard wooden chair beside the hospital bed that Daryl is being kept in. Paul shuffles the chair closer to the bed and places his hand on Daryl’s bare chest, feeling the heat beneath his calloused palm. He takes a shuttery breath and squeezes his eyes closed, trying not to cry again. The door to the med trailer creeks open and Paul lifts his head to look at it, Rick’s worried eyes meet his own as he steps through the door. Paul shifts his eyes away and back to Daryl’s as Rick takes a seat on the other side of the man. 

“How’s he doin’?” Rick asks quietly. 

“Seems to be asleep.” Paul murmurs in response. 

Rick sighs and is about to say something when the door swings open again and Dr. Carson enters, he smiles at them softly as he steps up to Daryl and presses two fingers to the pulse point in his neck. The doctor watches the time on his watch as he checks the man’s pulse, eyebrows furrowing in concentration. 

After roughly thirty seconds he stands up straight again. “His pulse has slowed down a bit, it’s a start.” He tells them quietly and turns to step up to a table, he scribbles something down on a clipboard. 

Paul feels a slight bit of relief at that but it disappears when Dr. Carson speaks again. 

“Is he gonna be okay?” Rick asked nervously. 

Dr. Carson sighed quietly and ran his thumb over his chin before he answered. “If he survives the first twenty-four hours then recovery is likely but there’s a chance he could develop pneumonia before that time’s up, in which case things could get complicated.” 

Paul breathes out shakily and takes Daryl’s limp hand in his own, Rick squeezes the sleeping man’s forearm and swears quietly. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I finished this! 
> 
> Once again, I apologise if this is medically inaccurate. 
> 
> Thanks to the writers in the Desus group chat who helped me with some of the research and my questions! Xx

Eight hours later it’s night and Paul is still in that same wooden chair beside Daryl’s bed, Rick had left after maybe an hour or two to go and see Judith. The little girl is in the ‘terrible twos’ stage and often threw tantrums if she didn’t get her way, she had been demanding to see her Uncle Daryl but after Michonne explained that he was sleeping the little girl began demanding to see her daddy instead. Rick still came back and checked in every few hours as did everyone else, Maggie sat in silence with him for a while, rubbing his back lightly as he leant over Daryl’s body. 

Daryl is still in the same state, he had woken up a few times but he never stayed awake longer than a few minutes and when he was awake he was confused. He was saying things that made no sense, complete gibberish. Dr. Carson said that it was normal, a side affect of the overdose. 

Daryl had been hooked up to fluids via an IV in his arm, Paul considered it lucky that they had access to that now. It was three months ago that communities hit the jackpot, a large hospital in the city that looked completely untouched due to the herd of walkers that surrounded it. A team made up of people from all four communities led the walkers away and then Rick, Paul, Daryl, Michonne and others from the kingdom raided the hospital. They found everything they could possibly need and it took over a week to transport all the medicine, machines and anything else that was of use back to the communities. 

Paul was gently dabbing at Daryl’s forehead with a cold towel trying to get his fever down when the man slowly blinked his eyes open again. 

“Hey.” Paul whispered, bringing his other hand to gently brush Daryl’s bangs out of his eyes. 

Daryl blinks a few times as he looks up at him, looking confused as he tries to figure out where he is. “Paul?” He whispers, voice hoarse. 

“Yeah it’s me, how are you feeling?” He asks softly, and places the towel down on the bedside table. 

Daryl tries to say something but ends up in a coughing fit, stomach clenching violently as his face reddens as he struggles to breath. Paul grabs Daryl by his biceps and pulls him up into a sitting position careful, rubbing and patting him on the back until the coughs subside and Daryl is breathing normally again. 

“What happened?” Daryl groaned quietly, glancing over at Paul and then down at the IV in his arm. “What the hell?” He says and then grabs at the IV about to try and pry it from his skin. 

Paul reaches forward quickly and grabs Daryl’s hand. “No, don’t touch that, sweetie.” Paul tells him, the name slipping from his lips before he can stop himself, luckily the other man doesn’t seem to notice. 

“What happened that I need it?” He asks, coughing a little after. 

Paul reaches behind him to the bedside table and grasps the bottle of water. He holds it up to the man’s lips for him to drink while he explains what had happened. 

Once he finishes his notices that Daryl has started to get sleepy again. “Come on, you need more rest.” Paul whispers and helps Daryl lay back down, he fluffs the pillows for him and then pulls the light blanket up to cover Daryl’s torso. 

Daryl’s back asleep within seconds and Paul finally gives in to the need to the bathroom, he hadn’t moved from Daryl’s bedside since he came in after punching Gregory, he couldn't bring himself to leave Daryl’s side. 

Once Paul emerged from the bathroom Dr. Carson was back in the trailer checking Daryl over as Alex stood recording things on a clipboard as the doctor told him results. “Hey.” Paul greets them as he makes his way back over to the bed. 

They two men both look up and smile softly at him. “Hello, how has he been?” Dr. Carson asks as he presses two fingers to Daryl’s pulse point in his neck. “His pulse has slowed down that’s really good.” 

Paul sighs quietly in relief. “That’s good and he seems to be doing better. He was just awake and seemed a lot more aware than the past times, he was able to sit up and have some water.” Paul tells him and places the wet cloth down on Daryl’s forehead again. 

“That’s a good sign.” The doctor says as he places the blood pressure cuff on Daryl’s arm. Paul waits patiently as he checks his blood pressure. “Blood pressure isn’t dangerously low anymore, a great sign.” He tells him and Paul lets out a breath of relief while the doctor tells the proper results to Alex. 

“So he’s gonna be fine?” Paul asks nervously, well aware it could be too soon to ask. 

Dr. Carson smiles softly at him and then begins to remove the cuff from Daryl’s arm. “I think he has a good chance. As I said, he needs to make it through the first twenty-four hours before we can have a more solid idea.” He tells him and moves across the other side of the bed to check the fluids. “But so far, no signs of pneumonia which is great.” 

Alex nods in agreement and places the clipboard down a nearby bench. “What we need to work on is breaking his fever and making sure he doesn’t have anymore seizures.” He says to Paul and pats his shoulder as he passes him. 

Paul nods in reply, Daryl has had a total of three seizures so far and it was by the far the hardest thing Paul has ever had to watch. Because he knew that he was completely helpless, he knew that there was nothing he could do to help him. 

“Well, if you don’t mind, I have to give little Hershel Jr a checkup.” Dr. Carson says as he grabs his bag from one of the benches and slings it over his shoulder.

“Is everything okay?” Paul asks, eyebrows furrowing in concern. 

The doctor nods. “Should be, Maggie says she’s been having some trouble getting him to breastfeed. It’s perfectly normal for newborns to not get the hang of breastfeeding straight away but we want to make sure there’s no medical reason behind it. Hopefully we’ll get him to feed before she has to put him to sleep.” He tells them and then pulls open the front door of the trailer. 

“Okay, good luck.” Paul tells him and the doctor gives him a smile before he heads out of the trailer and closes the door behind him. 

Paul sits back down in the wooden chair beside Daryl’s bed. He runs his fingers through his long chestnut hair, wincing as they repeatedly catch on knots. Once it’s as knot free as he can get it he pulls it up to the crown of his head and secures it in a bun with the hair tie from his wrist, aware of Alex watching him as he rewraps bandages. 

Paul looks up and meets Alex’s eyes. “What?” He asks and then takes Daryl’s hand in his own. 

Alex shakes his head and smiles softly and places the bandage in his hand back in it’s plastic container. “Nothing, just it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you do that.” Alex replies and grabs another unrolled bandage. 

“Didn’t know you viewed me putting my hair up in a bun so sentimental.” Paul replies flatly and turns to look back at Daryl. 

Alex chuckles lightly. “I don’t, it just sparked a bit of a memory. That’s all.” He replied. 

“How’s Wes?” Paul asked a few moments later, the silence having grown awkward, he looks up and his lip quirks at the way Alex’s face seems to light up. 

“He’s great! Away at Kingdom for a few days at the moment.” Alex replies enthusiastically and smiles at him. Paul smiles at him in reply and Alex watches him for a moment before he speaks again. “So, you and Daryl. How long have you been together?” He asks. 

“We’re not together.” Paul whispers. 

Alex laughs lightly. “You will be though, soon enough.” He replies knowingly and walks over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing. 

Paul laughs as well and brings Daryl’s limp hand to his mouth, he presses a soft kiss against his scarred knuckles. “Yeah. Soon enough.” He replies. 

 

* * *

 

Midday the following day finally arrived, marking the twenty-four hour mark since Daryl had been poisoned. There was difficulties during the night, Daryl had had another seizure and his fever had been lowering and rising constantly. Paul ended up being stuck in a vicious cycle of relief and then worry, over and over. They had finally managed to break his fever a few hours after sunrise, roughly eight am Paul guessed. 

Daryl is a lot better, Paul could tell even before the doctor told him. Daryl has been awake for almost half an hour now, though he was still a little drowsy and shaky he was able to communicate well enough. He had managed to get up with the help of Paul and go to the bathroom while Paul waited outside of the door. Dr. Carson was extremely happy for find out that Daryl had used the bathroom making the man very embarrassed and confused as hell. The doctor explained that one of the side effects to the overdose could be an inability to urinate. 

“What’s happening with Gregory?” Daryl finally asked as he sat up in the bed, sipping water from a bottle after having just taken his antibiotics. 

Paul sighed lightly and took Daryl’s glass from him once he had finished all of it. “I don’t know, they put him in the cage yesterday just after I had beat him up but that was right after we took you to the trailer. I don’t know what’s happened since.” Paul replies softly and uses the cloth on the bedside table to gently wipe at where Daryl had spilt some water onto his bare chest. 

When Paul looked up again Daryl was already looking at him, eyes soft. “You’ve been here the entire time?” Daryl asked, hints of disbelief creeping into his voice. 

Paul smiles softly at him and pushes his bangs out of his eyes, feeling relief when he notices that though the size of Daryl’s pupils are not completely back to normal they have shrunken. “Of course I have.” Paul replies quietly. 

“Why?” Daryl asked as he leaned into Paul’s hand that was now cupping his face, thumb rubbing his cheek bones. 

Paul smiles softly at him and begins to trace Daryl’s pink lips with his pointer finger. “Because I care about you.” He replies softly and looks up again to meet the other man’s eyes. 

They look at each other for a few moments and when Paul sees Daryl lick his lips and then glance down at his own, Paul begins to lean in. They’re close, faces centimetres apart when the door to the med trailer suddenly springs open and the two men pull apart in surprise. They look over to the door to see Rick entering the trailer, completely unaware of what he had just interrupted. 

“Hey, man. How you feeling?” Rick asks as he closes the door behind him and steps up to the bed, he claps Daryl on the shoulder before he takes a seat in the chair on the opposite side of the bed to Paul. 

Daryl clears his throat awkwardly and shuffles to get more comfortable against the bed. “Alright.” He replies and moves to chew on a hangnail but the movement causes his IV to be tugged on so he winces and drops his arm back to the bed. 

“That’s good, Carson said you’ve improved a lot.” Rick replies as he observes the two of them briefly. “Anyway, Michonne is rounding up some food for the two of you, neither of you have eaten since it happened.” Rick tells them. 

Daryl immediately snaps his head to look at Paul, regretting it when he feels a moment of dizziness. “You haven’t eaten?” He asks Paul, his tone of voice has changed to what it always is whenever he gets worried. 

Paul laughs lightly and pats Daryl on the belly briefly. “Relax, Daryl. I haven’t eaten a proper meal but I have eaten.” Paul tells him, Daryl being worried abour him is the last thing they need right now. 

“Like what?” Daryl grunts. 

Paul chuckles and rolls his eyes. “A couple of apples, a sandwich. Relax, okay?” Paul replies and squeezes his hand. 

Daryl grunts but lets the conversation go. 

“Anyway.” Rick says from where he’s been watching the two of them interact with an amused smile on his face. “A messenger has been sent to Kingdom to let Carol know that you’re unwell and she should come here, same to the others at Alexandria. It was a precaution incase we needed to say our goodbyes.” Rick’s voice is shaky towards the end and Daryl hears Paul take a shaky breath from beside him. 

Daryl squeezes Paul’s hand and gives Rick a look. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere.” He tells them. 

“Damn right you’re not.” Paul replies and grins at him, Daryl smirks back. 

Michonne comes in a few minutes holding two plates, she approaches the bed and hands one to Paul and one to Daryl. She then took a seat on Rick’s lap as there was nowhere else, the bed being too small for her to sit by Daryl’s legs. 

Paul’s mouth watered at he smell of meal, only just noticing how hungry he actually was. The meal consists of mashed potato, peas, corn and some cooked meat which he identifies as deer once he’s taken a bite. Paul finishes the entirety of his plate within minutes and places the now empty plate onto the bedside table. Daryl finishes a few minutes later, only eating half of the meal and then insisting that Paul eat the rest. Paul only accepted because Dr. Carson had told him that loss of appetite was to be expected, so he knew Daryl wasn’t lying to get him to eat more, he was genuinely full. 

Paul swallows a mouthful of mashed potato and then says. “Daryl asked before what was gonna happen to Gregory, I haven't been around so I don’t know. Guessing you two do.” Daryl sits up a little straighter and leans forward. 

Rick nods. “He’ll be taken to Alexandria and kept in a cell, he’ll stay there until he dies.” He informs them as he rubs Michonne’s thigh. 

“Kay.” Daryl replies, looking down at his hands. 

Michonne reaches forward and squeezes Daryl’s shoulder. “He isn’t getting anyway near you or Maggie again, he’ll get to sit in that cell and fucking rot. All while Negan sits three metres from him.” She says, the vicious words comforting to Daryl.

 

* * *

 

The next night Daryl got to leave the med trailer and go back to his and Paul’s own, he’s been given strict orders that he’s on bedrest for the next week and it’s been declared Paul’s job to make sure he obeys. 

“Come on, you need to get changed.” Paul says, motioning to the clothes the slightly taller man is wearing, the same ones he wore on the day he was first poisoned. Paul helps him sit down on the couch, Daryl is still too tired and unsteady on his feet to remain standing. 

Paul steps over to their small wardrobe and opens the squeaky wooden doors, he reaches into the side of the wardrobe where Daryl’s clothes are, there really isn’t much of a point of having their own sides, they wear each other’s clothes half the time anyway. 

Paul grabs a pair of black boxers and grey sleep shorts, knowing it’s too hot for sweats but Daryl wasn’t at the level of comfortability where he could sleep in nothing but a pair of boxers like Paul does. “Do you want a shirt?” Paul asks and glances back at Daryl. 

Daryl looks at down at his hands and seems to consider it for a moment before he replies. “Nah, s’fine.”

“Okay.” Paul says and closes the wardrobe and then steps back up to Daryl, knowing that they just passed a mile-stone and are about to pass one more. “You’re too weak to get dressed by yourself, let me help you.” Paul murmurs and takes the other man’s hands in his own and helps him to his feet. 

Daryl takes a deep and shaky breath but nods and allows Paul to pull him up.

Paul gets squats down and unties the laces on his boots, Daryl’s hands landing on his shoulders to help balance himself as Paul tugs the shoes off of him and then tosses them in the direction of the door, his socks land somewhere by the desk. He stands back up then and tugs down Daryl’s jeans, his belt had already been taken off while he was in the med trailer to make him more comfortable. 

He tugs off Daryl’s boxers and then puts the clean ones on as quickly as he can, can feel the anxiousness radiating from Daryl as he does, easing off as soon as they're on. Following the boxers is the soft grey sleep shorts, Daryl gets one leg in and then the knee that he’s standing on seems to suddenly give out and he almost falls but Paul catches him.

“Easy, I got you.” Paul murmurs. He keeps one arm around Daryl’s waist to help keep him standing as he helps Daryl get the other leg in and then he pulls the shorts over the swell of Daryl’s backside. “There you go, more comfy now?” Paul asks and steps away, looking up at the other man with a grin on his face. 

“Yeah, thanks.” Daryl replies, his head ducked and a rose red blush on his cheeks. 

Paul smiles at him “No worries.” He replies and places his hand on the small of the other man’s back, feeling the warm and bare skin beneath his palm. He applies pressure and begins to lead the other man over to the bed. 

“I can stay on the couch.” Daryl grumbles, motioning back to his usual sleeping quarters. 

Paul snorts and pulls back the covers on the bed. “Like hell you are, get in the bed.” Paul orders and gently nudges him. 

Daryl rolls his eyes but does as Paul tells him to and lays down. Paul smiles softly and briefly squeezes his hip. “I’m just gonna change too, okay?” He says and then steps away. 

Paul returns a moment later, in nothing but a pair of rainbow boxers. He gently pokes Daryl’s side. “Scooch over, I’m getting in with you.” He says. 

Daryl moves over and Paul climbs into the bed. Daryl can’t help looking down at the other man’s crotch again. “Nice boxers.” He snorts as his mouth is spread in a smirk. 

Paul rolls his eyes and gets comfortable propped up on one elbow above him. “Shut up. They were a gag gift from Eduardo and were the only clean ones I have left. I was meant to do the washing yesterday but ya know, got a little preoccupied.” He says with a grin, his blue-green eyes full of amusement. 

Daryl snorts and rolls his eyes. “Gayest boxers I’ve ever seen.” He replies. 

Paul laughs and pushes Daryl’s dark brunette bangs out of his face. “That was the point, I had come out to him the day before and he went on a run and found them.” He tells the other man and flicks the elastic on the rainbow boxers. 

They laugh for a few moments and then go quiet, Paul stays propped up above Daryl with his fingers gently combing through the man’s hair as he looks into his beautiful ocean blue irises. 

“Thanks for looking after me.” Daryl murmurs and Paul feels the other man nervously place a hand on his waist. 

Paul smiles fondly at him and leans down a little closer. “Of course, it’s what you do for the person you love.” He whispers nervously as his own cheeks redden, he begins to trace Daryl’s lips with his pointer finger just like he had in the med trailer before they almost kissed. 

Daryl’s eyes widen in surprise for a moment before he’s glancing at Paul’s lips and giving him a look, a look that Paul knows means that Daryl is asking to be kissed. 

Paul does just that, he moves his hand to cup Daryl’s cheek as he leans down. He presses his plump lips against Daryl’s slightly chapped ones softly. The other man presses back immediately and squeezes his waist, it makes Paul smile into their kiss and he moves closer so he’s laying with his own chest resting on top of Daryl’s with both of his hands cupping the man’s face. After a few moments Paul runs his tongue along Daryl’s bottom lip as a request for access, Daryl grants it to him and allows Paul to push his tongue inside of his mouth.

Minutes later, only when Paul begins to feel his boxers tighten does he bring the deep kiss to an end, he pulls their lips apart and Daryl immediately chases him, briefly pressing their lips together again before Paul pulls away with a smile. 

“You need to rest.” Paul tells him and rubs his thumb back and forth over Daryl’s eyebrow. 

Daryl rolls his eyes. “Man, I’m in a bed. What else do you want from me?” He replies in frustration, Paul too far away for him to press their lips together again. 

Paul laughs fondly and leans down to peck his lips one last time before he rolls onto his back. “C’mere.” He says and wraps an arm around Daryl’s shoulders to pull him closer. Daryl huffs but can't help himself from smiling lightly as he rests his head on Paul’s bare chest, solid and warm beneath his cheek. He wraps an arm around Paul’s waist and Paul’s own wrap around his shoulders. “Get some sleep.” Paul whispers presses a kiss to the other man’s hair. 

Daryl closes his eyes and shifts slightly as he settles. 

Paul knows Daryl is still awake, can tell by his breathing. He has one hand rubbing circles in between shoulder blades and the other in the man’s hair gently running his fingernails over his scalp. “Go to sleep.” Paul sighs. 

“‘M thinkin’.” Daryl replies quickly. 

“About what?” Paul huffs and lightly tugs at the other man’s hair. 

Daryl is silent for a few moments before he shifts his head, looking up at Paul through his bangs. “Did ya mean what ya said before?” He asks quietly after taking a deeps and nervous breath.

Paul looks into his eyes and smiles softly. “That I love you?” He asks and Daryl nods. “Of course I meant it. Daryl, I love you.” He replies softly, watching Daryl lick his swollen lips before they spread in a small smile. 

“I love ya too.” He whispers as he looks up at him. 

Paul smiles at him happily and then leans down, he presses his plump lips against Daryl’s forehead for a moment before he settles back into the pillows. “Now that your pretty little head isn't filled with that thought anymore, go to sleep.” He tells Daryl, playfully pinching his shoulder. 

Daryl laughs lightly. “Yes sir.” He replies and jokingly gives Paul a small two finger salute. 

Paul laughs at him but gives his forehead one more kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave a comment!
> 
> My tumblr is iiloulouii if anyone is interested!


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